The warehouse in which Janneke Hoek (Zwolle, 1995) produces her art is located on the Suikerunieterrein. Her lighthearted and cheerful works approach heavy themes with a positive attitude and avoid easy categorization of her art practice. We spoke to her about her work in the busy warehouse.
“I've always drawn, but art wasn't an important part of the curriculum until I switched high schools and went to Waldorf. What was the deciding factor for me to study Illustration and Graphic Design was my visit to the Open Day of Academy Minerva. There I noticed that the people and the environment gave me a good feeling and that I felt at home. In the end, I graduated 2019 with a work that leaned more towards installation art than you would usually expect from someone who studied Illustration. I used many different techniques and materials, such as wood, plaster and textiles. In that work I researched the oldest findable creation stories that are interrelated, while they originated in different parts of the world. What I find fascinating about these stories is the wonder they have about the origin of the world. An important fact in these stories is that the human being in these stories is not the icing on the cake, but that they are an inherent part of a larger whole. Such a connection with the environment is rare to find in Western society and that is a great loss for me. The fact that I am part of the musical artist collective Het Kanaal, which tries to connect people with each other and nature through music and performances, is very important to me personally. The people of the collective are always willing to help and support each other, but that is not an attitude that you normally encounter in our society.
Despite my educational background, I see myself primarily as an artist and less as an illustrator. At the moment I am working on many different things at the same time: I am making furniture, I am working on performances and I am making a book. Personally, I think that 'figurer' would be the best label for me, since I'm trying to figure out how to make innovative things with old crafts and because there are a lot of birds in my work. Currently there is a solo exhibition of my work in the church of Vierhuizen. From cabinets, linocuts and parts of my graduation work. My father and I are also developing a work of art for the art route Folly Art Norg. These are all silly structures that you can walk past and this event takes place in August. I think it's important that I work on the things that give me satisfaction and that my work is made sustainable. I think it's less important that they fall into one specific category. For example, I use my old illustrations and comic books as inspiration for my furniture; this gives my work a playfulness and almost something childish. People experience my work as light and cheerful and that is important to me because I experience the world as the opposite; as humanity we are not doing well and we face the reality every day that it is difficult to change things on a large scale. However, this is why I try to keep my work light-hearted, cheerful and fun, to offer people an alternative way of looking at the world. It can also be sustainable, it can also be playful and you can continue to marvel. Working with your hands is very soothing because it is tangible and at the same time the cheerfulness of my work also makes me happy.”
Text: Dinnis van Dijken
Photo's: Lisa Jasperina Bommerson